To me so many of these shows were told by the way one acquired a ticket to enter. Is was as if the band just knew how difficult and hard we had to work or in my case how fortunate we were if we could score a pass to enter into their realm for the evening. We all loved energy, that is why we were there, it drew us from venue to venue. Many of us picked up trash, some begged, and some had money for face value but no ticket in hand. The Midwest was blessed with these theaters, check at the Murat Shows and McCauley theaters if you need some background on the venues. The only let down, was that Phish was starting to press out at the seams. And some of the most loyal fans were getting kept out on some nights. My story was simple, a mob was entering into the front formal entrance and my bredren who had no cash spotted what seamed a mother of some child who could not attend, she took my $15 for a stub and next thing I know, Trey on the megaphone chanting WILSON. Loved this show the whole way, highlights as usual It's Ice, Mango Song and Lizards(although not flawless, but beautiful and always has been my favorite and first Phish song I ever heard). The antelope, Suzy, and Divided sky were all standard at the time, an indication that Phish was playing some of it's strongest older material. It always felt special and back then a funky bitch encore was much appreciated by the die hard phisheads. Overall the venue was A+, difficult getting a ticket 8.9/10, and set list for me 9/10. Thanks Shawn.

More of a story than a review...
I was still a huge noob at this point but by now I had a few tapes and was starting to get to know more songs. There were still a TON of songs that I didn't know though. All I can remember about the show is really liking Lizards and them doing Amazing Graze with no mics at the edge of the stage. I also recall the theater being pretty damn tiny and our seats being in the VERY last row up in the balcony. What I do remember pretty well is hanging out before and after the show with my friend Chris and Nate. Chris is a really "interesting" guy and one of the first people I knew that liked Phish. He was lucky enough to go to the Halloween show that year while I was not because it was on a Monday night and I was in 11th grade. The Erie show was on a Sunday so I guess my parents let me go since I didn't have to miss a day of school and I'm sure I PROMISED that I'd be home at a decent time. Chris had an extra ticket and he wanted to either get a blow job from a hippy girl for it OR light it on fire in front of a hippy to make them cry. Like I said, Chris is an interesting guy. Famous Chris quote from back in the day, "I fuckin' hate hippies but I love their music." I still stay in contact with Chris and even see a show or two with him now and then. The last show I saw with him was at SPAC in the summer of 2010. I imagine he was one of the few people on lot that day who brought their Gloc with them, you know, just in case. Chris also had an extra pavilion ticket that day that he couldn't find anyone to offer him more than $20 for. He wanted, EXACTLY what he paid for it. Down to the fucking penny. He ended up not selling the ticket to anyone and just brought it in with him. He would rather eat the ticket than not get paid full face value for it. Hilarious. Back to Erie, Chris didn't end up making anyone cry that night and I imagine he just sold the ticket to someone that didn't look like a hippy to him. Can't remember if anything else fun happened beforehand, I think we did some nitrous and I think that Chris smoked PCP with some guy in the parking garage!? After the show, I needed to get home ASAP but there was a problem...my parent's car was gone. I guess I parked it in a fire lane. Whoops! I eventually found out where they towed it, hitched a ride to the place, had to have my parents give the guys their CC info to pay for it and then drove BACK to the venue to pick up Chris and Nate. The guy who gave me a ride only had room for me so they had to wait until I got back. So I park, legally, and start walking around looking for the guys. I'm walking down the sidewalk and I saw someone that looked EXACTLY like Page pass me. I turn the corner and there's Mike hanging out talking to a couple guys and Trey standing a few feet away talking to some other folks. Holy shit! I ended up meeting both of them, shaking hands and getting autographs on my ticket stub. They were, of course, super nice and more than happy to talk to a couple freaked out 11th graders. If my car didn't get towed that night I never would have met them. Funny how things work out like that.

This show is not exactly a barn-burner compared to some other shows from this period, but it is not without material you'll want to hear. The opening Wilson has a long intro and the part before Blat Boom is also extended. Reba's jam is average but still satisfying. The set-closing Antelope is extremely hot. It's the highlight of the show if you ask me. The Tweezer in the second set contains several minutes of good jamming, but it's a relatively tame rendition compared to others from the month. It seems to me that this is a 3 star show from the time period. Seek out the Antelope!

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